Episode 1166. Was I really wrong? (One)
Cheongmyeong glares at the court.
Nothing has changed in the eyes. Everyone felt that the meaning in Cheongmyeong’s eyes had changed.
“Do you know what you’re talking about?”
“I know.”
“But…”
“Listen to the end.”
“⋯⋯.”
The court ignored Cheongmyeong’s words and continued speaking.
“Also, I will not allow any faction that shares the same views as Shaolin to head to Gangnam.”
“Bangjang…”
“Of course he is.”
The court’s gaze captures Cheongmyeong and Hyeonjong sitting behind him at once.
“Cheon Woo-maeng will also formally request that you refrain from going to Gangnam, regardless of the outcome of this discussion.”
Cheongmyeong’s face became expressionless.
“What if I refuse?”
“I will stop it.”
The court simply answered calmly.
“I will do everything I can to stop it.”
And then I add something that doesn’t need to be said.
“Even if it means coming back to Shaolin in pain.”
A thick silence fell in the room.
Not a single sound of breathing is heard.
This was partly because the meaning contained in the court’s words was so heavy, but more than that, it was because the facial expressions and atmosphere of the court were very serious.
It doesn’t suit me.
The implications of the court’s remarks were too harsh. These were not words that someone who pursued illegal activities would dare say.
However, contrary to the meaning contained in the words, the court’s attitude was so serious that it seemed noble at first glance.
The two things that did not fit together coexisted, giving a strange feeling that could not be expressed in words to those watching the court.
“I told you so.”
A cold, clear voice breaks the strange atmosphere and spreads.
“Do you know what you are talking about?”
The court just looked at Cheongmyeong with a calm face as he scolded her with a frighteningly emotionless face.
“Of course I know.”
“No, I don’t think you know?”
Cheongmyeong’s lips slightly open, exposing his teeth. Even if he tried to hold back, an uncontrollable passion slowly seeped out of him.
“You said you would do your best to save at least one more person.”
“That’s right.”
“Isn’t Haenam a person?”
Cheongmyeong’s voice was so cold that it almost felt lifelike.
The court that heard that voice did not respond and simply closed its eyes.
As if he didn’t like that attitude, Cheongmyeong’s voice became a little more intense.
“I asked whether the people who endured day after day, bleeding dry, surrounded by the dead waves at the southernmost tip of the central plains, were not human beings.”
“⋯⋯.”
“They are people too. And they are the ones who decided to share the same ideas as the head of the room. “These are people who have been working hard within the boundaries of ‘gu-file-one-room’.”
Naturally, Cheongmyeong’s feelings toward the Haenam faction are not very positive.
In the first place, Cheongmyeong couldn’t have had any good feelings toward the sects belonging to the old faction, and wasn’t Haenam the sect that ate up the place where Hwasan was supposed to be anyway?
Even though I didn’t have particularly strong ill feelings towards the Haenam clan, there was absolutely no reason to look favorably on them.
But still, the head’s attitude was enough to arouse Cheongmyeong’s anger.
“Do you think it’s a contradiction?”
“A contradiction?”
The corners of Cheongmyeong’s mouth twitched as if laughing.
“It would be sophistry, not contradiction. “Otherwise it’s hypocrisy!”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
The court, which solemnly recited the fire, slowly opens its eyes.
At that moment, a slightly shocked look appears on Cheongmyeong’s face. This is because I saw that the eyes of the courtroom that had received scathing criticism had not changed at all from before.
The court looked at Cheongmyeong with low, sunken eyes.
“It might seem that way. No, maybe you’re right.”
“⋯⋯.”
“okay. You are right. Shaolin should save them. But I will ask. “Is that the only right thing to do?”
Cheongmyeong’s face distorted slightly. As if it was difficult to understand what the court was saying.
“Why?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? “That’s it…”
“I guess it’s because it’s a natural and reasonable agreement.”
The court speaks as if cutting off the words of Cheongmyeong.
However, rather than getting angry, Cheongmyeong nodded again. Because what the court said was exactly what he wanted to say.
Helping those in danger is a very natural thing without needing to use the grandiose word ‘consultation’.
“Then let me ask you something. “Hwasan Sword Association.”
The court quietly opened its mouth.
“There is a way to save a hundred people. So then, should Kanghoin and Buddhists naturally do that?”
“I guess that’s obvious.”
“Even if a thousand people lose their lives in return?”
“⋯⋯.”
Qingming closed his mouth.
“Ask again.”
But the court did not stop talking.
“You can only choose one of two paths. A way to save a hundred people and a way to save a thousand people. “Which one should I choose?”
“What kind of sophistry…”
“Is this really sophistry?”
The court shook its head.
“Haenam is at the southernmost part of Sapaeryeon. In order to help them, we have no choice but to collide with the SPA, and that is no different from the old faction and one party declaring war on the SPA first. “It will definitely lead to an all-out war.”
“Are you saying you’re afraid of that?”
“I’m afraid.”
The court nodded casually.
“I am so scared that I am shaking. “I can’t even sleep when I think about how many people will die in that war.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Aren’t you afraid?”
Cheongmyeong could not answer those words.
Because there was no difference in their feelings.
“It is an unavoidable war.”
“I know. I know. “More than anyone else.”
The court also did not deny Cheongmyeong’s words.
“But Hwasan Sword Association. Even if war is inevitable, there is a difference in the way it is fought. “If we have to go into enemy territory and implement unreasonable plans, people who don’t need to die will die.”
“⋯⋯.”
“More people, perhaps several times that number, will have to die than the people of Haenam who will be rescued. But… is it really an agreement to implement this?”
“If you don’t do it without looking after your own benefit, you don’t deserve to be called ‘consultative.’”
The court heard those words and slowly shook its head.
“Hey, Hwasan Sword Association.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I’m not dying.”
A low sigh escaped the court’s mouth.
“No matter what operation it is, I can’t be on the front line.”
“That’s right…”
“Is it really the right thing for someone who will not die no matter what plan he implements to force people into danger in the name of agreement?”
Cheongmyeong’s eyes were slightly excited.
“It’s always like that.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I also heard that excuse during Maehwado. It is a path for everyone. It was something that could not be helped. In order to save more people, we had to endure. so? “What was the result?”
“⋯⋯.”
“Aren’t you just scared? “Bangjang!”
A hollow laugh came from the mouth of the court.
“Did you say you were scared?”
“yes.”
“That’s a ridiculous question. “Isn’t that too obvious?”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“⋯⋯.”
The eyes of the court and Cheongmyeong meet in the air. But at that moment, the two felt together.
The look in each other’s eyes, the helpless fear hidden deep within.
A fear that can only be felt by those who understand that their choices can lead to death.
“I’ve thought about Maehwa Island many times. “Over and over again.”
“⋯⋯.”
“What on earth did I do wrong? What mistake did I make? “Was my choice really wrong?”
The court turns its gaze and looks at Namgung Dowi.
Nangong Daowi was glaring at the court with eyes that showed little emotion, but the court that received his gaze was just calm.
“In the end, I came to that conclusion. Hwasan Sword Association, and Nangung Sogaju. Even if I could go back to that time, my choices wouldn’t change. Even when that time comes, I will just watch Namgung die.”
“⋯⋯Bangjang!”
Namgung Dowi gritted his teeth.
However, the court only shook its head in the face of Nangung Dowi’s anger.
“Hey, Hwasan Sword Association.”
“Tell me. where.”
“Do you really think I should have led the others to Maehwa Island?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Then I will ask. “If I had led Shaolin and Gong to Maehwa Island before you arrived, what do you think the outcome would have been?”
“That’s right…”
Cheongmyeong closes his mouth.
It would have been saved. Shaolin is by no means weak.
But… If they had rushed in without considering the situation, the amount of blood that would have been shed would have been considerable.
First of all, the existence of Shaolin camped across the river would have disappeared from Jang Il-so’s mind. They probably surrounded us on all sides and opened fire.
“More people would have died than Namgung who remained there. “Isn’t that right?”
“⋯⋯.”
“And that’s just in terms of numbers. In terms of power, it wouldn’t even be worth comparing. In order to save the surviving young children of Namgung, he would have lost countless people who would one day become the sword for the Sapae-ryeon. “Do you really think I should have chosen that path?”
Upon hearing those words, Namgung Dowi’s face distorted.
“Bangjang.”
“⋯⋯Tell me. Sogaju.”
The court nods in a slightly quiet voice. No matter how much he said, it was not easy to say something like this in front of Namgung Dowi.
“Maybe what the room manager said was not wrong.”
Nangung Dowi bit his lip and continued speaking.
“But still, the volcano came. “Dangga risked his life.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Don’t you think that’s the difference between the two schools?”
The court burst out laughing.
“Look, Nangung Sogaju.”
“yes. “Please tell me.”
Namgung Do-wi glares at the court as if asking him to say something.
“That’s why I was worried. I wonder why Cheon Woo-maeng was able to do what I couldn’t do. Do you know what the answer I found was?”
“⋯⋯Well.”
Namgung Dowi was prepared not to accept whatever answer the court gave. No matter what is said, it will be nothing more than an excuse.
However, the court’s answer that followed left even Namgung Dowi astonished.
“It’s because you’re stupid.”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
The court simply responded calmly.
“It’s because I was dumber than the Hwasan Sword Association and couldn’t find a way to deal with them without harm.”
“⋯⋯.”
Namgung Dowi’s eyes get even bigger.
“Bar, room…”
“And it’s because Shaolin is dumber than a volcano and couldn’t find a way to win without shedding blood. “It’s just because we’re not good enough.”
Namgung Dowi’s body trembles.
I never imagined that I would hear these words from someone else, not the court.
Isn’t the court the one whose noble pride alone cannot be compared to anyone else in the world?
“Because we don’t acknowledge that, everything is distorted. Hwasan and Tangga became places where people did things they shouldn’t do, and we became places where we were unfairly criticized even though we did the right things. So it is no wonder that Simma comes to my heart. “It was wrong from the beginning.”
“⋯⋯.”
“But now I just accepted it. We just didn’t have the ability to do that. Then I will ask again. “So Jiaju, do you really think that we should have headed to Maehwa Island, even dyeing the Yangtze River with blood, due to our lack of ability to save Nangong?”
Namgung Dowi was unable to answer in the end.
The court, seeing the reaction, closed its eyes and chanted.
“It exists in the world. These are the ones the criminals can’t do anything about. “No matter how hard you try, you can’t keep up with them, and they do things that ordinary people can’t do, so easily.”
At those words, everyone looks sideways at one person. Because everyone here knows who the host is referring to.
“But that’s it.”
The court opens its eyes and pierces Cheongmyeong.
“Not being able to distinguish between what only you can do and what cannot be done and telling yourself to do everything according to yourself is just another name for violence.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I will ask, Hwasan Sword Association.”
The court’s voices came out slowly.
“Was I really wrong?”
Cheongmyeong’s lips were tightly closed.
The slightly trembling tips of his lips seemed to be telling me how he was feeling right now.
